


sides of us (unfinished)

by elliestars



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Post S3, Unfinished, no i’m not completing it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliestars/pseuds/elliestars
Summary: Something about Rayla wasn’t seeming right. As much as Callum tried to talk to her, hang out with her and the like, she wasn’t responding. And Callum didn’t know when (or if) this would ever change.Until a few days ago.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Kudos: 10





	sides of us (unfinished)

It’s been a while. A while since they took a 20 day trip to Xadia. A while since they’ve genuinely been relaxed. A while since Rayla’s been at peace of mind. Granted, when was she ever at peace of mind? She always seemed to concern herself with Callum and Ezran’s safety. Maybe she felt more relaxed that way. Callum wasn’t really sure.

Callum always said it felt like forever since they left Katolis to take Zym home. But it hasn’t been that long. And really, it hasn’t been that long since they got home. Maybe that’s why Rayla’s so stressed. She always seemed to disappear. When Callum was riding with Rayla on the Shadowpaw to Katolis, she fell asleep on his shoulder. Callum appreciated the warmth, but he was concerned for Rayla a bit. I mean, sure, she hadn’t gotten a really good sleeping schedule in about a month. But just a few days ago she had dove off a cliff to kill Viren. Maybe she was stressed. Maybe she really was just tired. Again, Callum wasn’t sure.

And even in Katolis, when the two shared a room, she still found ways to vanish at any moment possible. Granted, Rayla probably wasn’t used to castle meetings or diplomatic issues, and she definitely wasn’t used to living a life like that. But even then, Rayla would disappear whenever Callum went to look for her. And when she was with Callum in their shared room, she rarely made small talk with him, let alone deep conversations. 

Callum was worried for her, and rightfully so. The small talks they had were mostly Callum trying to tell her her hair was pretty, or maybe if she needed another blanket, or maybe if she’d like to see some of his drawings. (Callum loves showing people his drawings.) But, really she never really responded to his attempts to start a conversation. She’d mostly just stay silent. Not a word.

Even though they were in a shared room, Callum never felt so apart from her.

And he didn’t know when or, even if this would change. 

Until a few days ago.

It’s midday in Katolis. The sun is shining gently through the windows, the birds are singing, all is calm—

“Ack! Alright, I’m up! I’m up already!” 

Rayla exclaimed, jolting up from being asleep. She looked at Callum tiredly. “Why are you coming after me with a great big awful feather? What’s happening?” She rubbed her eyes tiredly. Callum pulled away from tickling the feather on Rayla’s face. “I thought you’d make a cute face but-“ He tried to say, “—But what?” Rayla interrupted. “It’s more of a, uh, angry cute.” He smiled.

“Callum, you really shouldn’t use Phoe-Phoe’s feather like that!” Ezran exclaimed, trying to grab the feather from Callum’s grasp. Callum did have to admit it was a tiny bit rude dangling the feather of a dead moon phoenix over Rayla’s face to wake her up.

And Rayla matched that small sentient. “You’re using a feather from Lujanne’s dead phoenix?” She said, confused. “Um-yeah, but-“ Callum tried to utter, a poor attempt at justifying why exactly he was waking Rayla up with a feather from a dead phoenix. “We got a letter from Lujanne about the feather!” Ezran interrupted. “Phoe-Phoe sacrificed herself to get me to the Storm Spire. I owe her everything!” Ezran held the feather up and looked at the letter in his hand. “She left this glowing feather behind when she died. Lujanne says we need to bring the ‘ghost feather’ to the moon nexus before the next moon so she can perform a ritual.” Ezran looked up from the letter thoughtfully, bringing his glance back to Callum and Rayla again. “Phoe-Phoe is a moon phoenix. This must be how she gets reborn!” 

Rayla’s eyes widened. “The new moon? That’s only three days away!” She exclaimed, jolting up from her sheets. Ezran looked down at the letter, sighing. “Yeah, she really should’ve sent this sooner.” 

Rayla started to get out of bed. “We’d better get moving! What are you all doing up so early, anyway?” She looked at both of them. “It’s... everyone else has been up for hours, Rayla.” Callum said, looking at her confused. “Oh.” Rayla simply looked down existentially. 

Rayla quickly changed the subject. “Oh, uh, hey Ez,  can  you go with us? Don’t you have all sorts of kingly duties now?” Ezran focused on her. “Well, yes. But this is important. I can be away for a while.” Ezran smiled. “I left a letter for Opeli that explains everything. She’ll be fine!” 

*Cut to Opeli reading the letter, definitely  not  doing fine.*

Ezran ran towards the front door, waving his arm in the air. “I’m going to go get packed. I’ll meet you at the courtyard in an hour!”

He closed the door and left, his footsteps echoing throughout the hall as he ran down to the courtyard.

Rayla got up, slinging Callum’s sketchbook over her shoulder, walking over to his side of the room. Callum noticed her glazed eyes. She didn’t look like she slept well. 

“Rough night?” He asked, pursing his lips at the thought of Rayla having nightmares. She waited a few seconds to respond.

“I didn’t fall asleep that much last night,” Rayla sighed, grabbing her blades and putting them on her nightstand. “And even when I did—“ Rayla trailed off. Callum knew she was about to say something sensitive.

“We never found his body, Callum.” Oh. Callum figured she wouldn’t be over Viren dying. “He fell halfway from the moon. We should’ve found something. Anything!” Rayla fell back on the bed, sitting beside Callum, a tired and stressed expression on her face.

Callum tried to reason with her. “Rayla, Viren’s dead. He couldn’t have possibly survived—“ “You don’t know that!” Rayla blew up at him. She then coiled back away from Callum, showing regret for losing it just then. 

“Look, Rayla. I know you think he’s still alive. But even if he is, I don’t want to worry about it right now. We’re all trying to recover from the experience at the Storm Spire.” Callum put a hand on Rayla’s shoulder and smiled at her warmly. Rayla looked back at him, smiling tiredly. “Maybe you’re right. I have been a bit of a mess lately,” Rayla laid her head on Callum’s shoulder and nuzzled against his neck. Callum chuckled a bit. “Everyone’s a mess at some point. Me? I’m always a mess.” Rayla grabbed his scarf and pulled him in close. “It’s true. You have been wearing the same scarf since I met you.” She grinned, stroking Callum’s face with her free hand. Callum pulled away, flustered.

“Uh, just think of this trip to the moon nexus like a vacation! We’ll be relaxing for a few days, getting a break from normal responsibilities, and getting some well needed rest and relaxation!” Callum rubbed his hair nervously. Rayla smiled at Callum, before wrapping her arms around him and cuddling him again. “Sounds lovely,” she said, warmly.She pulled away beaming, and focused her gaze on him. “A vacation is exactly what I need. Thanks, Callum.”

They definitely remember walking up here. The slashed webs, the foggy mist, the darkened skies (even though it was the evening, it was almost pitch black)... No doubt about it, this was the Cursed Caldera.

“Keep your eyes open. We don’t know if there are any actual bloodthirsty creatures up here,” Rayla wavered cautiously. “Relax, Rayla. We’ve been up here before. The only real thing that tried to attack us was a leech, and we beat it!” Callum joked. “I know, but you never know, Callum...” Rayla trailed off as she darted past the team, slicing webs left and right to make way for the rest of the group to follow. “Er.. is it just me or... did this place get more webs while we were gone?” Ezran looked around. “Maybe it’s Lujanne’s illusion magic doing its thing to keep the Moon Nexus safe. Remember, we’re the only ones who’ve seen it. Lujanne has to crack down her defenses more than ever now.” Callum said, tightening his grip on his drawing book. “Especially since we have—“

“HEY! I’m right here! You guys keep leaving me behind to get caught in webs! Show a little respect for your Crown Guard here!”

Callum sighed.

“—Especially since we have Soren coming with us.”

Soren came running to where Callum and Ezran were, crouching down and panting heavily. “Don’t leave me behind like that. I’m supposed to protect you tw— Hey wait, where’s Rayla?” Soren looked around confusedly. “Rayla’s up ahead, clearing the path for us to walk through.” Callum said, brushing his hand against a low-hanging branch. “Uh-huh.. she sure likes getting head starts. Anyways, how far even are we from the magic moon place?” Soren quizzed. “Moon Nexus,” Callum corrected him. “Right. Magic Moon Nexus. How far are we from reaching the top of this weird mountain?” Soren mumbled. “We’re only a few minutes of walking away. Shouldn’t be too far from the top.” Ezran chimed. “A few minutes away from walking if we don’t encounter any messups, that is.” Callum corrected. “Er.. what messups?” Soren asked carefully. “Oh, you know, indescribable terrors, bloodthirsty monsters, horrors of evil your mind can’t imagine. The usual.” Ezran smiled. Soren shuddered. 

Then, they heard that familiar sound. “You hear that?” Soren said.

A loud, high pitched clicking and chittering.

The Illusion Spider!

“HAH! Knew I’d encounter YOU again! Care for a duel this time?”

And, of course, Rayla.

Soren, Ezran, and Callum ran up to where Rayla was at. She was yelling elven obscenities at the Spider, pointing her blade at it, ready to challenge it. “Uh, Rayla? Maybe you should, I don’t know, step back from the spider?” Callum yelled, nervously. “Nah, don’t worry, I got it all under control! Isn’t that right, Garlath’s Abomination upon Humanity?” Rayla snorted. “Rayla, you can’t just name terrifying monsters we’ve encountered only once!” Ezran shouted out. Rayla laughed. “Aye, I bet you were as solid as that wind you were blow—“ She went to place a smack upon the monster, only for her hit to hit a very solid surface. Her facial expression instantly went from sarcastic to terrified. “I TOUCHED IT! IT WAS REAL!” She ran into Callum, looking horridly at the Spider.

All of a sudden, a flash of glowing light encapsuled the monster. Blue.. white... right. This is an illusion.

“Ta-daaaaa! Wasn’t that amazing? I had you fooled right down to the bone!”

The light disappeared leaving behind a very condescending Lujanne and another strange large man next to her.

“Wh-Wha- I knew it was an illusion!” Rayla stuttered. She pulled away from Callum, flustered. 

“I know! I tried using a bit of a different defense mechanism here, and Allen over here helped wonderfully!”

Soren, Rayla, Callum, and Ezran looked confusedly at Allen, trying to remember if they had seen him before. 

“Oh! You’re the guy that challenged the sunblade guy in a duel!” Callum said. “And you ran away crying when you didn’t win!” Rayla continued. Allen looked away shyly. For a large and burly man, he seemed really soft. “Oh, don’t bring that up. Allen’s very sensitive. He cries at a lot of things.” Lujanne patted him on the shoulder. “There, there, you’re gonna be okay.” Lujanne took a quick glance at all of the group that came to visit, her eyes landing dead on Soren.

“Hey there, magical moon lady! Suprised to see me back so soon?” Soren smiled and waved at Lujanne. She locked eyes with him, giving him the death stare. “I remember you, Soren. You came here with your sister, tried to kidnap the princes—“ 

“Yeah, but me and the princes are past that now. We’re best friends, can you believe it?” Soren cheered. Lujanne took a look at Soren again. “Hm. Seems I was a bit wrong about you. Maybe you are better than I thought.” Lujanne focused her gaze back to Callum, Ezran, and Rayla. “You three look tired. I’m assuming you walked the whole way up here, braving my defense mechanisms. It’s only fair that I help you three get up the rest of the way.” Callum and Ezran looked at each other and nodded. “So, Lujanne, how much longer do we have until the new moon?” Rayla asked. Lujanne‘s face grew weary. “Only a day and a half left. We must be hasty in what we do. We can’t have this go wrong. Quick, up the mountain. We have to hurry.” Ezran, Callum, Rayla, Soren, and Allen followed suit.

**Author's Note:**

> jeebus creebus. this took a while to write. and i know it ends on a weird note, and maybe wips shouldn’t be posted to ao3, but i had been working hard on this for a while and i didn’t want it to go to waste. (no, i’m not finishing it. through the moon was a huge let-down for me, and i just needed to get this out of my notes app. enjoy, i guess.)


End file.
